Man, that does suck. I went to SIUC for 2 years before transfering to KU. I hunted and fished pretty much everyday I was there. The guys I hunted with were my frat brothers and we were all Chicago suburb guys and LOVED being able to hunt and fish everyday. We never ran into any anti-hunters down there, but from what it sounds like, it is getting worse. I guess our hunting group was average 6'5' 230 pds though! I heard last year all the gun permits were sold out for Crab Orchard and when the 1st day of the shotgun deer season came, there were 130 no shows. Damn anti's in Carbondale bought up all the permits. I heard a lot of people were pissed and rightfully so! Just ignore them, most likely they are shoeless hippys that smoke too much weed and people you don't want to associate with. I found that most people down there didn't mind hunting, even the goodlooking girls from the Chicago suburbs which was a shock. Everytime I met a girl at the bars and told them I hunted down there, they were more curious than anything. I actually took a few of the sorority girls out with me a few times, they found it pretty entertaining.

I haven't hunted Crab Orchard in 10 or so years (Deer hunted over in Harrisburg last year) but if you need any spots to hunt on there, I still remember all my rabbit, quail and pheasant hot spots and don't mind sharing them. Enjoy your time there and believe me......Stay in as long as you can, its rough in the real world!!!